{"id":63229,"date":"2012-06-15T00:00:39","date_gmt":"2012-06-15T04:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=63229"},"modified":"2016-01-14T12:07:13","modified_gmt":"2016-01-14T17:07:13","slug":"the-circle-keeping-morgan-mcduffees-spirit-alive-is-now-larger-and-still-unbroken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2012\/06\/15\/the-circle-keeping-morgan-mcduffees-spirit-alive-is-now-larger-and-still-unbroken\/","title":{"rendered":"The circle keeping Morgan McDuffee’s spirit alive is larger \u2014 and still unbroken"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remembering Morgan McDuffee \u201902<\/p>\n

By H. Jay Burns
\nPhotographs by Phyllis Graber Jensen<\/p>\n

On March 3, 2002, the death of Bates lacrosse captain Morgan McDuffee \u201902 \u2014 a young man, as his coach said, “who simply glowed” \u2014 plunged the many people who knew and loved him into the darkest kind of despair.<\/p>\n

Ten years later, a rainy day that gave way to sunshine, McDuffee\u2019s family, friends and former teammates gathered for a memorial lacrosse game between Bates, coached by Peter Lasagna, and Skidmore College, coached by McDuffee\u2019s friend and former teammate, Jack Sandler \u201902.<\/p>\n

With the passage of time, the circle of people keeping McDuffee\u2019s spirit alive is now larger and still unbroken.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what struck Sandler about the memorial game: \u201cthe outpouring of support from so many for someone who meant so much to me but who many of them had never even met.\u201d<\/p>\n

Played at Tufts, the non-conference game was also a fundraiser for Morgan\u2019s Fund, administered by the Maine Community Foundation. The fund supports groups promoting anti-violence programming and mediation, including Metro Lacrosse, a Boston nonprofit whose mission is youth development and education through lacrosse competition.<\/p>\n

\"Players,<\/a>

Players, coaches and fans wore No. 2 decals honoring McDuffee\u2019s uniform number at Bates.
Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College.<\/p><\/div>\n

Before the game, McDuffee\u2019s former teammates brought out Morgan\u2019s lacrosse jersey, signed by both teams, and presented it to his mother.<\/p>\n

Lasagna spoke briefly. The moment was heavy with shared emotion, but time had clearly passed, and the group seemed content to come together.<\/p>\n

Lasagna said he was certain that McDuffee, had he lived, would have chosen a life that involved working with young people like the Metro Lacrosse youths, many of whom came to the game and were greeted by players and coaches.<\/p>\n

\"Bates<\/a>

Bates head coach Peter Lasagna greets young boys and girls from Metro Lacrosse, the Boston nonprofit that focuses on youth development and education through lacrosse competition and receives support from Morgan\u2019s Fund.
Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates<\/p><\/div>\n

As a coach not much older than his Skidmore players, Sandler has shared the story of his friend Morgan McDuffee. Not necessarily the story of McDuffee’s death \u2014 murdered near campus while trying to break up a late-night melee between Bates students and locals \u2014 but of his competitive yet generous spirit. He was a \u201cwhat can I do to help?\u201d type of leader and an equally loyal and big-hearted friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I spend a lot of time with my players at Skidmore,\u201d Sandler says. \u201cThey get to know me and they\u2019ve heard me speak of Morgan before. But in the locker room before the game, when I presented them with the No. 2 stickers for their helmets, this was the first time. They understood what a tragedy this had been and how important Morgan was to not just me but all those who attended the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cMorgan reached so many people in such a short amount of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the hard-fought game ended (Skidmore won), Sandler and Lasagna embraced.<\/p>\n

McDuffee\u2019s mother asked a photographer to take a picture of her and her sister, Morgan\u2019s aunt, with the signed jersey, and they smiled as the photo was taken.<\/p>\n

\"After<\/a>

After the game McDuffee\u2019s mother, Lisa Freeman (left), and her sister, Laura Birdsall, pose with McDuffee\u2019s Bates lacrosse jersey, signed by both teams. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates<\/p><\/div>\n

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Suzi Andrew South \u201904, who was engaged to McDuffee at the time of his passing. \nPhotograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t

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Players, coaches and fans wore No. 2 decals honoring McDuffee\u2019s uniform number at Bates.\nPhotograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t

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For many players, the game was their first understanding of the power of the McDuffee story.\nPhotograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates <\/p><\/div>\n\t\t

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Head coach Peter Lasagna and his former players Aaron Sells \u201901, Chris Buckley \u201901 and Ben Anderson \u201999.\nPhotograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates <\/p><\/div>\n\t\t

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Bates head coach Peter Lasagna greets young boys and girls from Metro Lacrosse, the Boston nonprofit that focuses on youth development and education through lacrosse competition and receives support from Morgan\u2019s Fund.\nPhotograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates <\/p><\/div>\n\t\t

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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remembering Morgan McDuffee \u201902 By H. Jay Burns Photographs by Phyllis Graber…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[10856,11024,11031,6065,9902],"class_list":["post-63229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-athletics","tag-bates-magazine","tag-magazine-features","tag-magazine-spring-2012","tag-morgan-mcduffee","tag-peter-lasagna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63229"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64549,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63229\/revisions\/64549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}